Back to Back

Yesterday and today were back to back all around bad runs. Yesterday it was raining pretty hard and I set out to run between 6 to 10 miles. After just over 4 miles I stopped. I was running slower then I have been and did not understand why it felt so hard. I did start back up again and run 4 more miles after about 8 minutes of walking but it still just felt like a bad workout. Today was no better. I set out to run just 6 miles and after about 3.5 I stopped. Again, I was running slowly and it just seemed so labored. After walking for a few minutes I ran about another 1/2 mile. The humidity when I got back was 98% so I am hoping it had something to do with the bad run. It just seems like there are days when I am in horrible shape and others when I could run forever. Perhaps the most puzzling is that I have been running far better after being on my bike for 20 to 30 miles. Tomorrow I think I am going to ride my bike to work again. I think it will be good to have a day off of running. Hopefully my next day back running will be better.

I am so excited

Well, I just registered for a fall marathon. The Columbus marathon in Columbus, OH. I am really excited that I am healthy again and back on track to run another marathon. I am very confident that I will do far better then the last. I am trying to have very realistic expectations and will be happy with anything under 3:45. I have mapped out a new training schedule and it is much less grueling than what I was trying to do before I became injured. It also involves some cross training/cycling.

Riding Blind

If you read my post yesterday then you know that I missed my long ride/run because of the weather. I could not bear the thought of missing it for the entire week so I decided to squeeze it in today. Saturday is my long day because I don't work and there is no church. In order to get in the long effort today I knew it meant an early start. Church starts at 9:00 and we live about 15 minutes away. I also wanted to be back in time to eat something, shower, and help Tiffany with the kids.

With the bad weather out of the way the next obstacle would be the morning darkness. The sun does not rise until 6:30, and I set the alarm for 5:00. Running in the dark is not a problem but I was planning to ride first. Fortunately I live right next to a 73 mile bike trail. Therefore, I only have to worry about being able to see and don't have to worry about people being able to see me. I have a head lamp my dad got me for one of our hiking trips and decided to attach it to my bike with some zip ties. I took it for a spin and it worked perfectly.

At 5:00 I awoke and set the snooze for 5:14. At 5:14 I got up and went downstairs where everything was ready for me. I ate a bagel, chugged some water, and got dressed. By 5:25 I was on the road. One thing I had not planned for was thick fog. As I turned onto the bike trail I realized I could only see a few feet in front of me. The trail is straight and flat so it really was not much concern just extremely creepy. It is through the middle of the woods so it was really dark and there were plenty of rabbit and deer that I stirred up along the way. After being on the bike for about 45 minutes it slowly started to become light.

I rode my bike for 1:36:00, and covered just over 30 miles. Then I parked at my house and transitioned for about 2 minutes. Would have been faster but Tiffany and the kids saw me and came out to talk for a second. About 3/4 mile into the run both of my sides started hurting and I was beginning to think I would have to stop. Immediately I thought to myself, "you did not get up at 5:14 to only run 3/4 of a mile, pull it together." That is exactly what I did. I focused on my breathing and was quickly running very comfortably. I ended up running 7.3 miles at a pace of 7:39.

I also included a picture of my new tri shorts because I am excited about them. They were much more comfortable than running shorts while riding the bike and I really like the compression aspect of them while running.

Today's workout
Ride 30 Miles
1:36:00
18.8 MPH

Run 7.3 Miles
55:53
7:39 Pace

Rain Rain Go Away

I awoke this morning at 6:00 ready for a 3 hour brick. I purchased some new tri shorts and was really excited to try them out. I went down to the basement to change and heard a loud sound that sounded like thunder. I had looked at the hour by hour forecast before going to bed and it did not call for rain until the afternoon, so I just figured I was crazy. Arriving back on the ground level of our house I heard it again, this time there was no mistaking it. I went quickly to the front door, swung it open and found the beginnings of a rain storm on display. Still unwilling to except what my eyes had just seen I turned to a more reliable source, the internet. Sure enough 90% chance of rain. (perhaps about 10% low). The hour by hour showed thunder storms all day. I don't mind running in the rain, but I am not brave enough to bike in the rain yet. However, today is not just rain, there has been plenty of lightning. So my once a week opportunity to get a really long brink in has been dashed. Guess I will wait until next week.

Feeling Great

This morning I set out to run 9 miles. The 9 mile route I ran is somewhat daunting. It is an out and back course, which means if you stop somewhere in the middle you have a very long discouraging walk back home. It also has a couple of pretty serious hills in it. Leading up to the marathon I set out to run that route a few different times and was not able to accomplish it. It was really turning into a mind game. So any time I think about that route I get a little nervous.

I felt I was up to the challenge. I started out slow and finished the first half in 37:00 (8:13 pace). It was perfectly comfortable, no pain at all. Then I decided to slowly pick up the pace, and finished the second half in 33:29 (7:26 pace). The best part was I still had a lot left at the end. I could have easily run 13 to 15 today, which does a lot for me mentally. Tomorrow I will be riding instead of running. I am trying to take it slow but feel I am already ready to better my last marathon time.

Today's Run:
9 Miles
1:10:29
7:50 pace

I love Bricks

Today I set out for my first real brick workout. I have done a couple of pretty easy ones where I got off and ran a mile or two but today I wanted to take it up a notch. I started out by riding my bike 28.1 miles. I choose a really hilly course so my time was not great, I think an average speed of 17.4 or so. Then I got off the bike, took about a minute to take my helmet and gloves off and gulp down a little water.

I took off for a 10K. It is a really weird feeling running after being on the bike for an hour and a half. At first it feels like your legs are going to give out. It also feels like you are barely moving. I knew from a previous run off the bike that you totally loose the ability to know your pace. I would have said I was running a 9 minute mile, instead my first mile was 7:20. I knew I needed to slow down a little bit but still managed to maintain a pace of 7:39 for the 10K.

The entire workout took about 2:25 minutes. That was my first workout that long since the marathon. It felt great, and I have felt a since of accomplishment all day because of it.

If only I could have swam .93 miles to start the workout I could have gotten an Olympic distance triathlon in this morning.

To work and back

One thing I like about the bike is its practicality. Today I rode to work for the 3rd time since the purchase. It is 16.9 miles and it is pretty up and down, it takes me between 50 minutes and an hour each way. It is really the only way I can get two a day workouts in and not miss time with the family. It actually takes me about 40-45 minutes to drive home so it really does not take much longer. It is also good for the environment, and saves me the wear and tear on my car as well as the gas money. So pretty much it is a win, win.

Tomorrow I am hoping to run about 7 miles, I can't wait.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by and wrote comments. It really made my day.

A lot to say

I will try to bring you up to speed as to what happened to me. My heel continued to get worse and I became so discouraged that I could not bear to write about it. When I am injured, I try my best to avoid anything to do with running. I won't even read my Runner's World magazine when it comes in the mail. I was the most motivated I have ever been and was running great. Then all the sudden out of nowhere I was sidelined again. My running does a lot for me mentally, emotionally, and physically so it has been very tough.

Determined to stay in shape, I purchased a road bike. The first week I got it I rode 140 miles and loved every minute of it. It was my first experience on a road bike and it was really good. But then the unthinkable happened. I got an injury from the bike. The upper part of my shin/lower part of my knee had become very sensitive and was hurting when I placed pressure on it. I continued to push through the pain but it was getting worse. After 3 weeks I made an appointment with an ortho. I have had bad experiences in the past but I just had to give it a shot.

Last Friday I went to see Dr. Hill. He was great. My favorite thing about him was that he wanted to come up with a solution that kept me active, and he was curious about what active for me was. His prognosis was irritation and inflammation. He prescribed an anti inflammatory and told me not to slow down. Well, I took him seriously. The next two days I road 50 miles and ran a mile. That's right, I ran a mile and my heel did not hurt, neither did my shin/knee.

On Tuesday morning, I got up very excited knowing I was just going to be running. I had no pace goal or distance goal, just wanted to run. Well, I ended up running 5 miles at a 7:30 pace and it felt very comfortable which helped me feel like I was not completely out of shape. It also made me feel like I still have a fall marathon in me. I am really going to scale back my goal and just enjoy running for a minute.

Today I rode 11 miles really hard with an extremely difficult hill, then I jumped off the bike and ran for 2 miles. It was awesome. I really love brick workouts.

If you are reading this thanks for coming back after all this time. I am back and have never felt better.